Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori conducted a “dirty war” against Shining Path guerillas and their supporters. Photo by Agence-France Press.
By Steven T. Jones
Nobody is above the law, not even heads-of-state. That’s the important message from today’s sentencing of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori to 25 years in prison for the murders, kidnapping, and other official excesses that he ordered during his long battle against leftist rebels.
And it’s a message that should send a chill down the spines of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and the rest of their murderous, torturing regime, which is already being targeted by the same Spanish court that had Chilean tyrant Augusto Pinochet arrested on similar charges (although Pinochet later slipped the loose, much to the shame of the US and British governments).
San Francisco-based human rights group The Center for Justice and Accountability helped with Fujimori’s prosecution and issued a statement that included this quote from executive director Pamela Merchant: “The Supreme Court of Peru’s conviction of former President Alberto Fujimori is an extraordinary example of the rule of law prevailing over the rule of men. Peru, a young and fragile democracy recovering from years of violence, sets an important example for all nations: a real democracy is only possible where no one is above the law and the victims can achieve justice. We applaud today’s ruling and the hope it brings to thousands of victims and their representatives working to seek justice.”